Something doing every day!
Subject(s): Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Speeches, addresses, etc., United States. Congress
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This cartoon depicts President Roosevelt every day of the week. Monday “Writes a message to Congress,” Tuesday, “Another message,” Wednesday, “A message,” Thursday, “A message,” Friday, “Again, a message,” Saturday, “Still another message,” Sunday, “At rest” as he sits in a rocking chair reading the message.
Comments and Context
That many political cartoonists drew observational drawings of Theodore Roosevelt: hard at work; a fount of energy; a polymath with varieties of interests; exemplar of the Strenuous Life; doing an average person’s allotment of work before breakfast; engaged in physical, mental, athletic, and recreational activity; is because that is, virtually, how Roosevelt’s days went. The president, as a thematic preoccupation by himself, was irresistible to cartoonists on deadlines.
The multi-panel theme was worked by John McCutcheon, “Ding” Darling, Udo J. Keppler, and virtually all political cartoonists at one time or another. The “wrinkle” in this Kessler cartoon was Roosevelt feverishly active every day, but exclusively producing message after message for Congress. The president did indeed close out the year with a passel of recommendations — despite 1906 having been one of the busiest of political years.
Camillus Kessler was a cartoonist born in Ottawa, Illinois, and drew for several papers, the Republic, Star, and Times, in the St. Louis area before settling to a regular position of drawing daily human-interest panels for the Western Newspaper Alliance, serving small-town journals across America, and the Metropolitan Newspaper Service, also decidedly non-metropolitan in scope. He later moved to New York City and drew for several newspapers; but humor panels, not political subjects.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-12-20
Creator(s)
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Page Count
1
Production Method
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
Something doing every day!. [December 20, 1906]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301387. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Kessler, Camillus (1883-1950). Something doing every day!. [20 Dec. 1906]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 19, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301387.
APA:
Kessler, Camillus (1883-1950)., [1906, December 20]. Something doing every day!.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301387.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 19, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
APA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
